In November 2022, Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka was accused of’ stealthing’ a Tinder date and committing sexual assault. On September 28, the Sydney Downing Center District Court declared him not guilty of the accusation.
The woman and the 32-year-old cricketer met last year after being matched on the dating app. They went out for drinks at Opera Bar, then had pizza in Sydney’s central business district before heading to her home in the eastern suburbs. The woman said that the players choked her during sex, kissed her erratically, bruised her lips, and slapped her on the buttocks.
Before the Sri Lankan cricket squad was supposed to leave the country, the authorities apprehended the cricketer at the Hyatt Regency. Notably, the prosecution further rejected three of those counts, leaving only the case of stealthing to go to trial.
The cricketer, who has maintained his innocence throughout the proceeding, entered a not-guilty plea to a charge of engaging in sexual activity without consent that was connected to his alleged “stealthing.” Throughout the judge-only trial, the complainant’s credibility was called into doubt by the defense attorney, who claimed that she altered her story over time to paint the defendant in a hostile light.
“The evidence establishes that there was no opportunity for the accused to remove the condom during intercourse because that intercourse was continuous,” Judge Sarah Huggett said in announcing the verdict, according to ESPN cricinfo.
According to Judge Huggett, the claimed victim—who cannot be identified legally—was an informed witness who was motivated more by a wish to cast doubt on the cricketer than by a deliberate effort to give false testimony.
“I find that the complaint’s evidence does not in any way support the complainant. Instead, it calls into question the validity of her testimony, the court added.
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